


Markings

by PhantomDrake97



Category: Summer Camp Island (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-10 06:01:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20523113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomDrake97/pseuds/PhantomDrake97
Summary: Set in a post apocalyptic version of the original series, Elizabeth must make friends in an unfamiliar territory to get ahead. But when she uncovers something bigger at play, will she and her new friends be able to save the day?





	1. Chapter 1

The deep noise of the boat’s fog horn taking a new batch of younglings to the island could be heard for miles. Nowadays, it seems almost natural for the sound to roll across the waters like a wave. Elizabeth sat in the red leather seat, a sense of unease rising within her. The young fox had no idea what awaited her when she arrived at the island as she clutched her stuffed rabbit to her chest. Even in the most uncertain of times, even when the strange creatures roamed the streets of her old home, the stuffed toy brought her comfort. It didn’t help much that her parents were on the verge of crying as she was led onto the boat. Children were brought to different camps in droves, after the Great Storm, people feared for the future of their society. So, in a response to this fear, a group of government authorities built an island to teach children to excel in new careers, far from the beasts that roamed, far from the dangerous shadows. The fog horn signaled again, a sign that the new recruited children had arrived at the Island. 

Elizabeth was led off the boat and brought into a room with blindingly bright lights, as men in white lab coats interrogated her. They asked her questions about her parents, what they did for a living, and what the young kit had planned to go into. The small fox answered to the best of her ability, her father was a Hunter and her mother was an engineer, she replied. She wanted to grow up like her father, a man who always put the safety of her small village before his own. She recounted tales of her father and mother’s work, tales of her father coming home with strange, inky markings where there had been nothing before. She looked at her wrist, a similar marking seemed to swirl and bend about on her fur. She said that she could sometimes make it do things, a man with a long red beard sat down, a shackle around his wrist. 

“What kind of things can it do?” The man’s voice was gravelly and rough, not unlike her father’s, she felt uneasy around him, but his demeanor seemed to calm her. She recounted how when she got it, the markings had saved her. A shade had bit her and the burning pain hurt so much she wanted to cry, that’s when the mark appeared. Like a super hero, the mark seemed to leap into action, turning to spikes, scaring the beast away. The man simply smiled at the girl, an ingenuine smile, she had seen it all too much from her father. Like when he would say he was fine, but later that night, she would hear him groaning in pain and writhing with agony. The bearded man stood and walked to a man in a lab coat, he stood out due to a green-ish blue mark on his coat. 

The two talked for what seemed like eternity as Elizabeth sat in silence. Finally, the doctors surrounded her and grabbed her arm, the one that held her mark. Scared, Elizabeth tried in vain to remove it from their grasp, but in an instant, it was over. She looked at her arm, a dark red shackle was sitting on it, just above her mark, she touched the shackle and cried out in, “You’re hurting it.” She said as she pointed to her mark, the lab technicians ignored her cries of distress as the mark seemed to flail and then, in an instant, fall still. It was as if it were a tattoo that had always resided there. 

“Take her to her cabin.” One of the men said, not a hint of emotion in his voice. Another man in a lab coat with a mark on his coat, like the previous man’s but in the same dark red hue as the shackle. As she was being pulled out of the room, the bearded man looked at her with a smile, a genuine one now and said plainly. “You will make a great hunter. Just like your father.” And with that, the door slammed downwards, sealing off the room from Elizabeth’s gaze.


	2. The Quarters

As the lab technician brought Elizabeth to the Red cabins, she noted that they had already 

brought her things to the area. Cabin was a pretty strong word; the building was more like a bunker for many people. The area was lined with bunk beds with lockers at the end, it looked more like a military encampment than a learning environment. On the outside of the door a plaque hung that read simply 

“Destructives”, the paint seemed to run down the sign like blood. Elizabeth gulped out of fear of what kinds of people must be living within this bunk. Men in dark suits with gas masks unloaded her personal belongings into the top locker of the bed nearest the door. It was clear from their demeanor and movements that they took no special care to organize anything. Once the men were done, they took her 

suitcase with them, presumably for storage purposes. The man who was leading her pushed her inside the cabin and pointed to the shackle around her wrist, a screen was inlaid within the cold steel. “You will 

receive everything you need, when you need it, on that device.” The man said, as if he had said this a thousand times. He turned and left, with an expression that bared no resemblance to any emotion Elizabeth knew of. She looked at the screen and poked at it slightly until it shone to life, a holographic image portrayed inches from her face. Elizabeth jumped back at the sudden image displayed before her 

and clutched at her stuffed bunny for comfort. After a moment of shock, the young fox looked at the hologram again, a very impatient looking badger with a red tattoo around her eye stood there, waiting. When she recognized the kit was done cowering she spoke. 

“Welcome, young one. You have been selected because of your experience to be enrolled in the Destructives Program. I know, the name might be a bit frightening for you, this being your first year and all, but do not worry that is simply a name. It holds no bearing on the people you will be bunked with. Now then, you will be informed of major events that occur during your stay. Trust me young Elizabeth, 

this place is the perfect home for you. Now, your first classes will start soon, so you best be on your way to the re-education center. I will provide you a map. Oh, and I almost forgot. You can call me Karesi, I will be your program manager and psychological evaluator.” The badger seemed to add a sort of flair to 

every motion she made, which sort of put Elizabeth’s mind at ease. Some things Elizabeth took note of, like her overall delighted attitude and knowledge of Elizabeth’s name, while others she chalked up to being part of the islands program. Elizabeth didn’t spend much time debating the strange message and instead decided to head to the re-education center pronto. She passed by a multitude of other bunker-like dorms of all different colors, even one the same green-ish blue as the man from the lab. She decided to check the placard on the door before continuing. “Dreamers” was written in a whimsical font on the sign, leaning against the door was a kelpie with a green-ish blue shackle around her neck, Elizabeth noted a mark like hers seeming to wrap itself around the girl’s ears. The kelpie’s clothes and stance implied that she had very little interest in talking, but the young fox kit did not notice this as she approached her. 

“Hey there, my name is Elizabeth. I just got her today.” The kelpie looked down at the kit and her stuffed toy, she clutched to her chest like a shield. Though she had no intentions of talking to anyone today, this young kid had caught her attention. 

“Show me your chain.” The kelpie said plainly, pointing to the fox’s arm. Elizabeth was a bit 

nervous but decided to comply. She held her arm up to the kelpie who grabbed it lightly and examined it, Auburn’s shackle and eyes seemed to glow, making the fox cub uncomfortable. After a moment, the kelpie let go of her arm and scratched the hair on her arms. “Sorry, I thought you were one of those nosy jerks with the agency. My name is Auburn by the way.” The kelpie gave her new friend a smile and, though she was weary, Elizabeth seemed to relax a bit.


	3. The Re-Education Center

A loud ringing resonated throughout the campgrounds, shaking Elizabeth to her core. Auburn looked towards a large metal building with kids slowly walking towards it, a big sign hung over the door. Along the sign read in bold, black letter “Re-Education Center”, the building was tall, eight stories tall to be precise. Through each window Elizabeth could see a sort of color coding system, each room painted a different color. Elizabeth clutched at the shackle on her arm and seemed to pet her Shade’s mark as if she was trying to coax it to sleep. Auburn snapped Elizabeth back into reality by placing a hand on her as she spoke, “We really should get going to classes.” Elizabeth was still scared and somewhat unsure of what was going on, it was clear from her face what was going on. Auburn let out a sigh and gave Elizabeth her hand which the young fox took, and the duo walked to the re-education center. Elizabeth took note of the position of her new classroom on the third floor and her new friends’ class right below it on the second floor. As she walked up the stairs, she took note of the grayness of the first floor, the halls lined with doors for the administrative team. She noticed the Principal’s door at the far end of the hall, by the stairs and elevators, a strange darkness seemed to emanate from it. The second floor, from what little time she was on it, was almost blindingly colorful. A stark contrast compared to the abysmal first floor, she was almost relieved that the color was so bright as she ascended the next flight. Auburn led the kit over to her new classroom, she noticed a few lockers separated between each door. Auburn knelt beside the fox and lifted her head up to meet her gaze, she didn’t really want to be that kind of person in this younger one’s life but she had wished that she had someone like that her first year. “Listen, you don’t need to worry about a thing. I’ll be on the floor right below you. And, if you still feel uncomfortable, we can sit together during lunch.” The kelpie gave a genuine smile, which seemed to cheer the young fox up a little before the two parted ways. 

Classes were strange for Elizabeth, in them the students learned that there are seven types of shade markings. The type of marking each received was based on their hearts desire as well as on the shade that attacked them, the marks were a sort of connection between the two bodies. After their lessons on their markings, they were put into a combat training exercise. They were taught different moves that had the potential of defending themselves as well as severely injuring any targets that threatened them. Elizabeth felt a sort of unease performing the later and was afraid of why they taught it at all, this was supposed to be general combat for all Destructives, which included jobs like the police force. Though the lesson made her uncomfortable, she was more worried about her mark, it seemed to be afraid of this building and what it stood for. She didn’t understand what it meant but decided that she would talk to Auburn about it later. A bell rung halfway through class signaling lunch time, to which the young fox was the first one out of the room. She ran down the stairs and met up with Auburn and the two walked to the mess hall. The mess hall was just as dark a place as the first floor of the re-education center, it seemed as if it were bathed in darkness. The two walked inside and collected their food, sitting down at a medium sized, gray table. Shortly after they had begun eating a spider sat down in front of the two, his red shackle on one of his six arms seemed to gleam. Auburn and the spider glared at each other, the sort of stare of hated enemies. After a moment of intense silence, the spider finally spoke, “Oh Auburn, doing a bit of babysitting I see. How noble of you.” His words were sharp as he spoke, like daggers digging into flesh. Auburn simply smirked at the comment, “Oh what Spliner, is the big bad spider jealous?” She said mockingly, clearly agitating the creature before her. “I will do everything in my power to make sure you never graduate.” The spider hissed out, his red eyes seemed to burn holes in the back of Elizabeth’s head as she watched the two arguing. The spider slammed his fist onto the table, startling the young fox, as he got up and walked away.


	4. The Chosen One

Elizabeth, in confusion and uncertainty, watched as her friend and some stranger seemed to be at each other’s throat, leaving behind palpable intensity. After the spider had left, Auburn stood up and spoke to Elizabeth with a sense of urgency, it had startled the young fox girl. Elizabeth was weary but decided to follow her new friend, grabbing her stuffed bunny as she stood and held Auburn’s hand. The young kelpie led the duo down to a place by the beach, though the shore was now surrounded by an electric fence. Auburn took a deep breath and Elizabeth noticed her shackle began to glow again as Auburn opened her eyes again. The kelpie followed the fence, looking at each strand of the electrified fence until she reached an area where she stood still. To Elizabeth, it seemed just like the rest of the fence, but Auburn seemed steadfast that there was something different.   
As Elizabeth was about to speak out as to why they were here, she heard a faint voice like a whisper but much deeper and raspier than she thought possible. She looked to the sound of the voice and noticed Auburn’s shade mark writhing with impatience. She could hear the mark speak to Auburn, but Auburn did not react to its words of warning. The marking spoke of dangers beyond the fence, of a fierce creature that lived within the deep, all the marks words stuck to Elizabeth like glue as she became more uncertain. Auburn finally closed her eyes after what seemed like an eternity of silence and then looked down at Elizabeth and spoke softly. “I have a place for us. A place just beyond this fence, a cave where I have been going to for quite some time now. I want to show you something.” The mark seemed to whip and snarl at Elizabeth as if to tell her to turn back, to forget her kinship with Auburn and return to her place. Elizabeth was fearful of the marks words, but she was also uncertain of Auburn as well.   
Though the two seemed to connect quiet quickly, she felt an unease that made her start to question her loyalty to her friend. Elizabeth swallowed hard before opening her mouth, she felt a burning sensation around her wrist as she told Auburn that she would follow her. With a smile, Auburn held out her hand, which Elizabeth took with caution as Auburn approached an area of the fence. She walked straight into the fence, but the wires seemed to fade and shimmer as the young canine walked through it. This put Elizabeth’s mind somewhat at ease as she followed her new friend through the gate and down to the beach.   
They walked alongside the beach until they reached an area with a large rock over it, which Auburn moved to reveal an opening big enough for the two to get in. Upon entering the cave, Elizabeth was almost blinded with brightness as the light within the cave rivaled that of the light outside. The rocks were painted with neon colors and as the two moved within the cavern, Elizabeth began noticing that the area was set up like an old conference room with makeshift furniture. Auburn approached a large table in the middle of the cave with eight seats, seven of which were painted brilliantly with the same colors she had seen in the re-education center and the final being painted coal black. Auburn pulled her hand away from the young fox and held her arms out to display the cave in full view as she made a grand gesture to the area around her. “Welcome Elizabeth, to the Council of Seven.”   
Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide as the neon paint seemed to glimmer brighter than previously, a young giraffe kid stepped from the shadows wearing a neckerchief of Emerald Green. “I thought we had agreed Auburn, you cannot bring outsiders in here.” He was a soft-spoken boy with a shackle around his ankle, it’s green shimmered even in the darkness of the cave. Auburn looked disappointedly at the boy and smirked, “Oh yes, this little one is so dangerous. Be careful, she might try to attack you.” Auburn mocked the boy as he approached the green seat and sat down, looking at Elizabeth as if he were staring daggers at her. She felt uncomfortable and looked back towards the cave entrance when a young girl with a golden yellow shackle ring and matching color scarf approached from the exit where they came from.   
She put her hand on the young kit and the ring glowed as she spoke, “Come now dear, you wouldn’t leave so soon now would you?” With just those few words, all of Elizabeth’s desire to leave the cave vanished like a wave of light, she shook her head no to the young ferret and sat down right where she stood. A multitude of voices seemed to engulf her, some angry, some confused, and some happy. She wasn’t sure what was going on but she knew that it wasn’t normal. After a few moments all seven members of the council appeared, one by one, and took their seats.   
They all talked at length about Auburn bringing Elizabeth, they found it a dangerous thing to bring someone who they could not trust within their hideout. Elizabeth could barely hear what was going on over all the voices, as if each person were doubled, she could hear many arguing about the validity of Elizabeth’s loyalty. She finally had enough and clutched her ears tightly, much to the councils surprise she seemed to be in great distress. A few of the members looked at each other with concern and the oldest members nodded at each other, a nod that told the others what they had been waiting to know.   
Dakota, the member with the yellow shackle put her hand on Elizabeth again and asked her what she was reacting to, to Dakota’s surprise she didn’t respond to her. She looked at her ring to confirm her suspicions, despite Dakota using her mark, Elizabeth was somehow resisting its power to command people to obey. The members looked at each other shocked, then finally the member of the Pink house stood and practically screamed out, “We have found the chosen one.”


	5. The One

As the young fox clutched her ears, the small crowd looked at each other, unsure of what to do, their years of infiltrating the military base for information had told them what Elizabeth was but not how to help her. Dakota fiddled with her ring and as she did so, Elizabeth seemed to relax somewhat, still clutching her ears but not quite as tightly. The member of the Green dorm closed his eyes tightly, the glow of his shackle illuminated the silent room, as he opened his eyes the others looked to him for confirmation. He replied with silence as he pulled the shackle on his ankle down so that it was touching his Shade mark, it seemed to writhe for a moment before falling still. Again, the fox released her grip somewhat as the other members understood what was going on and followed the young giraffe’s lead. After a moment, Elizabeth was settled but in clear pain from the aftermath of what had occurred, Auburn ran to her side and put a hand on her shoulder to calm her nerves. Elizabeth looked up to Auburn, tears streaming down her face, the pain from hearing so many voices directly inside of her head had clearly taken a lot out of the young girl. Auburn held Elizabeth close to her chest as the eldest member, a cheetah boy with purple shackle around his tail, stood and spoke to the crowd. “It appears what our research has shown is true, and this has been an important learning opportunity. With this knowledge, we can now move on with phase 2 of our plan to expose the truth about shades.” He walked over to Auburn and Elizabeth and knelt to meet the duo’s gaze as he spoke. “Elizabeth, will you help us in our efforts to stop the injustice the organization has been involving us in? Will you be the leader of the Council of Seven?” He motioned towards the black seat with no occupant and Elizabeth wiped her eyes, she didn’t know much about the council, but she wanted to help Auburn and she wanted to help anyone else she could. Elizabeth, calmed by Auburn’s compassion, smiled up at the elder and gave a silent nod in response. A loud alarm sounded and the council all stood and headed back the directions they had come to arrive at the meeting hall, Auburn quickly and quietly lead Elizabeth out of the hall and back to the beach. It hadn’t seemed like much time had passed, but when they arrived outside it was night, the blood moon illuminating the sky. Auburn looked up at it with a sort of hatred but Elizabeth, having been born after the event occurred saw no problem with it. After all, in her eyes it had always been red, every night its light bathing the towns with an eerie glow. The duo quickly headed back through the fence and walked back to their cabins, they had only made it halfway before being stopped by guards, their guns pointed at the two children’s heads. The immediate reaction elicited a scream of fear from Elizabeth, but Auburn stood firm as they approached them and asked why they weren’t in their cabins. Auburn told them that the two of them were friends and that they wanted to see the moonlight to calm Elizabeth’s nerves about her new home. The guards were skeptical but had no way of proving anything, so they lead the two back to their respective cabins. The members of the Destructives dorm were already fast asleep when Elizabeth got in, so she simply got in her pajamas and went to bed. When she was looking through her things she noticed that they had all been replaced with government sanctioned duplicates, with symbols of the militaries crest painted on them. She hadn’t noticed it before, but she recalled almost everyone she saw on the island bearing this crest somewhere. She decided to not get too into it as she went to bed, her stuffed bunny by her side.

Upon waking up, Elizabeth had already planned to go to see Auburn and ask her more about what was going on. She blinked the sleepiness out of her eyes as she looked at her stuffed rabbit and then shrieked, they had replaced it with a near lookalike. The only difference was a red military symbol painted across the entirety of its chest.


	6. The Plan

Elizabeth dropped her stuffed rabbit in terror and almost broke down, she couldn’t believe that the military would defile such a priceless relic from her past. The stuffed animal sat on the floor facing the young fox as if to reassure her that it was the same one her father gave her, but she knew it was no longer hers. She stared at the thing, a sense of dread overtook her as she realized that if the military had done this, that means that they might have done something much worse to her poor stuffed rabbit. Her shackle’s monitor brightened to life, startling the young fox out of her stupor. Her cabin’s leader appeared above her, a false smile plastered on the young badger girl’s face.

“Well good morning, I heard you had some FUN last night.” The words seemed to roll off her tongue, leaving stains on the young fox’s mind and daggers in her heart. Did the military really know where she had been? Would she get into trouble? Are the others safe? Each question bounced around the young kit’s mind and made her more fearful with every thought. “Now, you really mustn’t hang around the wrong crowds, things can get dicey if you go meddling in affairs that don’t concern you. Some of the military officials say you were hanging around a rather radical girl yesterday. How can we trust you if you can’t even trust your own dormmates?” She said the last statement like a child that was throwing a tantrum. Elizabeth swallowed hard as she thought to herself that she had been out of the woods for now and that they only thought it bad to be hanging around Auburn. “Well, anyway, today is a free day, you should really try to spend some time with those who are more like you. I can’t force you to do anything, but I surely hope for your sake that you understand. Not everyone should be trusted.” She spoke the last few sentences as if she were trying to spit poison at the young fox girl before the hologram finished and Elizabeth looked ahead, still in shock of the events that had transpired. Elizabeth got out of bed and cautiously picked her stuffed bunny up as if it might explode, she examined it thoroughly and sighed. It might not have been the real thing, but it may still provide the comfort she would need after what she had been through.

Elizabeth put on her new clothes, the red emblem seemed to glimmer in the morning light as she went off to look for Auburn. As Elizabeth wandered through the camp she took note of different kids of differing ages doing a wide array of activities, anywhere from simple playing from younger children to using the powers of their shade marks for varying purposes. She looked at the clothes of each different group she passed and noticed that most, if not all, of the children were in similar cabins. This took Elizabeth by surprise, she had been so engrossed in her viewing of others she didn’t notice when she bumped into Auburn. The two came crashing to the ground, neither having been paying much attention to one another’s surroundings. The young kelpie stood up and reached a hand out to Elizabeth to help her up, which she gladly accepted.

“Got a lot on your mind huh?” Auburn said to the fox as she put her hands in her pocket and started leading the girl towards an area where they could sit. The two sat on a bench overlooking most of the area as the fox spoke softly in a near whisper.

“What is Phase 2 anyway?” She said as she looked up to Auburn, a sense of hope in her eyes, as if Auburn and the Council of Seven’s plan would be some mystical prophetic answer. She hoped that whatever it was that they had been planning would somehow get Elizabeth off of this island with such cruel people. Auburn looked around, her eyes glowing cyan once again, just as they had the first day the two met, after a moment she closed her eyes and they returned to their normal hue.

“A while back, me and the Council of Seven broke into the head office of the military headquarters. We had found out a lot about the Shades and what exactly the marks were. At first, we didn’t believe it but with you we now have undeniable proof of its validity. What we had found out was that the government was responsible for the event and that Shades are people who were the first test subjects. You see, your ability to hear the Shade marks proves what we had been fearing; that the marks are not only conscious, but they are living.” As Auburn explained, Elizabeth grew a deeper sense of confusion. Shade marks are living creatures? What on Earth could that mean? And why would she be able to hear these creatures when no one else apparently could? Auburn put a hand on Elizabeth’s should and the fox girls thought settled as her friend looked into her eyes and spoke. “With your help, we can save all the people on this island and off it. But first, we need to get something from the head of the military’s operation. And that’s where you come in.” Her friend smiled widely at the fox, she was still somewhat confused but was eager to help her friends and the rest of the world.


	7. Project Phoenix

Auburn’s words resounded in her head as the two walked towards the re-education center casually, they were careful not to pique the guards attention. As they approached the door of the center two armed guards held their weapons in front of the door stopping the two from getting in.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The guard had a deep thundering voice that nearly made Elizabeth’s teeth rattle at the mere sound of it. Auburn looked at the guards and put on her best puppy dog eyes as she spoke to them. “My friend here was just telling me that she had forgotten something in her lockers yesterday. I promised her we would find it for her.” Auburn spoke with a sense of purpose and poise as if this wasn’t the first time she had used this tactic. The guards looked at each other and shared a suspicious glance before sighing and moving to the side of the doors allowing the two in. Unbeknownst to the two, as they entered the building someone had been watching their every move, fully aware of their deception. As the large doors slammed behind the two they made their way to the end of the hallway where the Principal’s door was. Auburn pulled out a bobby pin she had hid in her hair and quickly picked the lock before opening the door slowly. The office looked out of place from the rest of the first floor to Elizabeth, from the grayness of the halls outside to the brightness and vibrantness of the colors inside the office. As Elizabeth was admiring the strange memorabilia of the room the pair heard footsteps approaching the door. Auburn quickly grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and pulled her to the desk, the sudden force causing a slight twinge of pain in her arm as the two went under the desk.

The door opened rather abruptly and a group of people filed into the office talking quietly about the progress of project Phoenix. Auburn took note of the groups conversation as she looked over at Elizabeth who seemed to be mouthing words to herself. After what felt like an eternity the room fell silent as the sound of metal slamming could be heard throughout the now empty room. Auburn took a quick peek at the office before asking Elizabeth what happened, the young fox recounted that she heard the groups marks talking about a secret underground lab where they had been working on something important. She told Auburn the code to the secret door as the two got up from under the desk. Elizabeth looked down at the ground and noticed a number of files which she picked up and looked through. Detailed on each of them was a different student at the island with red ink marking different things off a checklist, the files were ripped and somewhat hard to make out but there were nine in total. She quickly flipped through noticing the first seven had been stamped, the stamp reading “In Progress”. When Elizabeth looked at the second to last file she gasped and dropped the papers causing Auburn to look back at her. The file was Elizabeth’s and in red ink it stated “Incomplete”, Elizabeth was frightened at what this was, she hadn’t ever seen any of the other members on the list and feared the worst. As she was going to leave she looked at the final file which was newer and much easier to read, it was clear immediately that he wasn’t one of the campers but perhaps one of the government leaders. The name read ‘Drake Kull’ and the file suggested that he would be the final product of Project Phoenix. The wicked smile along his face gave Elizabeth a mortifying feeling as she placed the papers down and the two left the building.

As they were leaving a certain spider walked up to the pair and inquired what they were doing at the re-education center since it was a free day. The two told the same lie as they had given to the guards and tried to move on their way before being stopped by one of Spliner’s arms. “I know what you two are up to and you won’t get away with it. Just remember I got my eyes on you.” The words rolled off his tongue in such a way that it made the air thick and hard to breathe. The spider moved his arm and walked off, whistling as if nothing had ever happened.


	8. A Friend whose lost

The air was silent and still, as if time had stopped completely, until Elizabeth got the courage to ask Auburn one of the most pressing questions on her mind. “Who was that guy? And why does he keep coming after you like that?” The words seemed to make the silence feel even worse as Auburn stared blankly ahead, anger filled her eyes, but a glimmer of light reflected coming from Auburn’s eyes made Elizabeth even more concerned. She looked up at the young kelpie she had come to admire for her seemingly strong mental fortitude, now with tears in her eyes as she struggled to find the words to speak. “He… Was an old friend, back before I came to the island.” She choked out the words as if the mere utterance of them brought back a memory so long forgotten that it felt as if it were yanked from beyond the grave. “The two of us used to be best friends, we would play together all the time back home. We had made a promise that we would always be there for each other, that we would never stop being friends… But that life is just a memory now…” The kelpie spoke the last words softly in a near whisper as she looked down at the young fox, a clear look of confusion on her face. “What-What happened?” Elizabeth wanted to know what had made her friend so hurt but was afraid for what the answer might hold.

“This island happened. You see, I was a year older than Spliner, so I had to come to the island first. I never forgot my old friend, I missed him so much. Ever day I would look for ways to get back to him, to see him again… But I was never successful. I spent most of my time on the island listening along with the lectures and stories but never really took any of it in. The teachers were impressed with my natural prowess with my Shade mark, but I only ever used it to try to escape. As days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, I continued my search until one day I lost hope entirely. Until finally, it was his turn to come to the island. When he approached I ran up to greet him, but I could see only anger in his eyes. He looked at me ferociously, a look I had never seen in his eyes before as I asked him what was wrong. He screamed at me that I betrayed him, that I had broken the promise we made. That I forgot about him and that I had gone and made new friends. I told him repeatedly that that never happened, but he always shut my words down, telling me he knows what he was told to be true. He told me that the interviewer had told him I never once spoke of him, that I was excelling far greater than anyone my age ever had. I begged for him to listen to me, to know that I wouldn’t do that to him, but it was clear that he made up his mind of which side he was on. He made a promise to me that he would do whatever it took to surpass my skills, that he would be victorious even if he had to do something heinous to achieve that goal. The look in his eyes was no longer one of a friend who had played with me, it was replaced with a nemesis who would stop at nothing to demolish anything I built. Shortly after, a member of the Council of Seven approached me as I was crying on the steps of my dorm building and told me he had a way to make things right. I agreed to help him, if it would get my friend back. And so, I became a rebel against a system that will do whatever it wants to get its desired outcome.”

The story had resonated within Elizabeth as she understood why her friend needed to fight and she thought back to the people she knew back home. Would they come to feel the same way? Would her family resent her? Would her friends shun her? Elizabeth committed this moment to memory and made a vow to herself that she would see to it that this system would not tear down anyone else. Even if it was the last thing she did.


	9. The Objective

Auburn’s story left the air feeling stale and silent as the two looked at each other, finally, after what seemed like hours, Auburn broke the silence. “Now that we know what we do, I can tell the Council of Seven. It will take some time before we can enact the next stage of our plan, so hang tight until then.” The words fell to nothingness on Elizabeth, she was still deep in thought about what her family could be doing, she feared that the military might have been planning something bad like they had for Spliner and Auburn. Auburn looked down at the young fox and could see the distress in her eyes, in response, Auburn knelt and placed a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder and told her that everything would be alright. Auburn’s words sounded genuine, but the kelpie knew that if they didn’t enact their plan soon, she would be unable to keep such a promise. The two parted ways and headed back to their respective cabins as the cold night air breezed throughout the campgrounds. Once Elizabeth reached her cabin, she got a strange sensation, as if someone were hiding within the darkness of the small alleys between the cabins. Elizabeth took a deep breath and pushed the idea out of her mind, she chalked it up to simple paranoia of being afraid of what was to come. For the next few months, she attended the re-education center programs, the teacher’s enthusiasm seemed to wane more and more as time passed. Throughout her training, Elizabeth learned to harness the power of her Shade mark, though it was still young and undeveloped, much like herself. She could command it to attack as she did when she first received the mark, but whenever she did the mark felt heavier, like a weight were being pressed against her wrist. Along with the growing heaviness, she felt a strange tingling throughout her left hand as she used the mark more and more. Although most of the other student’s marks seemed to remain silent, Elizabeth’s seemed to constantly be crying out for release. Apparently, the shackle around her wrist refused to let the mark grow to its fullest potential and the mark wanted free of its bonds. Alongside her studies, Auburn spent much of her free time with members of the Council of Seven, discussing future plans and how things were going on their end.  
After over 3 months of what seemed like a prison sentence, the Council rounded everyone up and revealed that their plan was about to come to fruition. According to the leader, there was supposed to be another entrance to the bunker that wasn’t in the principal’s office, but rather the interrogation center. Through using their powers, the members had collected all the supplies they needed to infiltrate the military’s bunker. The only problem was that they could only send three people, so the group decided to send Auburn, Elizabeth and the leader of the group Baxter. The three collected their supplies, a combination of chain, guns and guard uniforms to sneak into the building. The hardest part would be getting past the guards and into the room where the underground bunker’s door was. After the three were ready, they headed out of their hideout and straight to the interrogation center. Auburn and Baxter had been disguised as guards dragging a chained-up Elizabeth to the Interrogation center for questioning. Many of the other guards gave the three inquisitive glances as Auburn and Baxter were not quiet the average height for adults, though they shrugged it off. They knew that if they were fakes that the brute who checks a guard’s validity, Argon, would weed them out if they were escapees. The three arrived at the interrogation center and a guard at the door asked the group what they were doing. Auburn stepped up and told the guard that they had heard rumors of Elizabeth knowing the plans of the Council of Seven and that they were going to question her about their plan and whereabouts. The guard gave a half-hearted grunt as a sign to go inside and have their badges checked for validation. The two nodded their head and pulled Elizabeth along into a room at the initial front door that quickly sprayed them with a dry disinfectant. The aerosol-like spray made the group cough and gag a bit but they continued on their mission. A tall man, probably seven feet tall stopped the group and asked for their badges, Elizabeth got a nervous feeling, but Baxter simply smiled. He had, after all, been a member of the creator’s house and was confident that his badges had been accurate. He handed the man Auburn and his badges and stepped to the side, the brute looked at the badges and for a moment he snarled and the group and gritted his teeth. Elizabeth was starting to get scared that he might have seen through their disguise, but to her surprise the brute began to smile and laugh heartily. The sound calmed the group for some reason as the brute simply said “HA! It’s so easy to scare you new recruits, isn’t it? You’re free to go, there is an open interrogation chamber at the end of the hall.” The man handed back their badges and the group headed down the hall at a brisk walk. Luckily for them, their destination was also at the end of the hall, so no one should be suspicious of them going that far down.


	10. The Entrance

As the three made their way down the hallway to their destination they noticed occasional whispers and felt a strange sensation as if they were being watched. The bleak gray corridor seemed to emanate a frigid yet crisp air throughout the walkway, leaving a feeling of great unease as they made their way to the end of the hall. Auburn quietly mused about the strangeness of the simplicity of their breaching, she had expected at least some resistance. They made it to the end of the hall and looked to their right, where the interrogation room they had been directed to was but quietly ducked off to the left room. Before the trio stood a large steel door that glimmered and shone even without a clear light source present. Along the sides of the door symbols and letters were etched into the metal, each article was lined with colorful paint. The three looked at the door for a little while as they tried to make sense of the symbols, they had never heard or seen these images before today and those that they did recognize seemed to be written in a strange manner. They could hear whispers approaching the doorway and quickly scanned the room for the way to open the door. The room seemed to be smoothed down, the only thing present seemed to be the door and a few small switches lining the walls in uneven patterns. Elizabeth recalled the combination she had heard from the marks of the military officials when she and Auburn breached the principal’s office. The three scrambled to push the symbols in the right order, each leaving an audible click as the switches were pressed. After a moment the door made a loud thudding sound as a seam in the door began to glow a deep red before making a clicking and opening. The three rushed inside as they heard shouting and running footsteps nearby, they didn’t dare wait for the door to open fully so they had to squeeze inside and slam the door shut behind them.

The three were within darkness for almost half an hour before a bright light illuminated the small room they found themselves in. They attempted to hush their breath so as to not arise any suspicion from the people who had run down the hall to see what had been going on.


End file.
